Vegan

A guy walks into a bar, and everyone knows he is a cross-fitter, a vegan, and an atheist. How? Because he told everyone within the first five minutes he was.

Veganism: the act of abstaining from animal-based products including food, clothes, beauty products, etc. Insane, right? What about burgers and *shutters* bacon?

So, the most common question I overhear is why on Earth someone would forego delicious meat products to thrive off of only plant-based foods and soy products? There are several motivations varying from environmental reasons to beliefs on animal rights. Every vegan has their story as to why they decided to change to an alternative lifestyle. Personally, I have been a pescatarian for close to five years, a vegan for one of them. The year I was a vegan I was uneducated on proper nutrition and tended to gravitate toward fake meat products and vegan sweets (Uh oh!) so I ended up gaining weight on my vegan diet. Convinced I couldn’t achieve the body I wanted on a vegan diet alone, I switched back to the pescetarianism two years ago, and I have been there since. Well, I had an excellent idea last week after watching a very informative documentary called, “Cowspiracy.” I have decided to do a thirty-day vegan challenge to experiment with my body and prove whether or not you can be lean with muscle tone on a vegan diet. I will be checking in at least once a week and list some of the recipes and workouts I am doing on my thirty-day challenge.

Why am I doing this? To put it simply, I love the vegan lifestyle. I am a huge advocate for animal rights and believe we have bastardized the food industry at an unprecedented level. We no longer have the resources to sustain our population with the amount of animal meat we demand. Due to this demand, the quality of life for the animals and the meat they produce for us is suffering. In the end, I’ve just never been able to love a dog and then eat a cow; it’s just not in me. Along with my love of animals, I have a deep respect for intelligent beings like dolphins and whales who are slaughtered every year due to massive fishing nets used to supply the demand for salmon and tuna. Due to this respect, I have decided to cut fish from my diet and not be a part of the industry killing creatures I love and admire. I have never been a fan of dairy in the first place, the idea of moldy cow breast milk has never tickled my fancy, and I can live without eggs. The only reason I never fully committed was due to rumors of it being impossible to be lean at a bikini model level with a predominantly carb-based diet. That, and soy can disrupt your hormone levels. So, this is my chance to experiment on myself and give all of you the truth you deserve!

What do I expect? Honestly, I don’t know. I have no idea how this will turn out but I am really excited to see where the next month takes me. I am hoping I can answer the following questions: